Search Results (7,930)

The rapid expansion of anaerobic digestion (AD) as a key technology for producing renewable energy has led to a substantial increase in digestate generation. This has intensified the need for sustainable management strategies that align with circular economy principles. While the solid fraction of digestate (SD) is traditionally applied to land or composted, its heterogeneous composition, regulatory constraints, and handling challenges restrict its wider use. This review aims to clarify the current state of SD treatment and highlight emerging opportunities to convert this underexploited resource into value-added bioproducts. A systematic bibliographic analysis of the past decade was conducted to identify consolidated and emerging SD valorisation technologies, supported by an evaluation of EU-level regulatory frameworks and the role of mechanical solid–liquid separation in enabling downstream valorisation. In addition, a comprehensive comparative table compiling physicochemical characterisation data of SD from various feedstocks and separation methods is presented, emphasising the significant variability in composition and its implications for valorisation pathways. The results show that, while composting and thermochemical routes, particularly pyrolysis, remain predominant, novel approaches such as advanced drying, pelletisation, vermicomposting, insect bioconversion, and fermentation-based pathways (including submerged and solid-state fermentation) are rapidly gaining interest. These emerging technologies enable the production of high-value products such as biochar, pellets, enzymes, microbial biopesticides, protein sources, and fungal biomass. However, their adoption is currently limited by feedstock heterogeneity, process complexity, scalability constraints, and economic considerations. Overall, SD is a versatile feedstock whose valorisation is expanding beyond agricultural applications. However, regulatory harmonisation, quality assurance, and process optimisation are still needed to encourage industrial uptake and to fully integrate SD into circular bioeconomy frameworks. Full article

This study investigates the interplay between urban morphology, vegetation, and thermal environments by integrating mobile air temperature (AT) measurements with satellite-derived land surface temperature (LST). The case study is the city of Bologna (Italy). Correlation analysis revealed strong multicollinearity among morphological indicators, with building density and floor area ratio nearly collinear, while vegetation cover (PV) remained the most independent predictor. A composite urban density indicator (CUDI), derived through principal component analysis, was introduced to address redundancy among morphological metrics. Ordinary least squares regressions demonstrated significant associations, with PV exerting a pronounced cooling effect and CUDI amplifying both AT and LST. Model diagnostics confirmed statistical robustness, though residual spatial autocorrelation necessitated spatial regression approaches. Spatial lag models (SLMs) substantially improved explanatory power, highlighting spatial spillovers and neighborhood effects as central to understanding urban heat dynamics. Comparative analysis with spatial error models reinforced the dominance of SLM in capturing localized dependencies. Despite limitations in spatial coverage, temporal scope, and indicator transferability, findings emphasize the critical roles of vegetation and urban compactness in shaping thermal environments. This work underscores the necessity of integrating greening strategies with urban form management for effective heat mitigation and provides a methodological framework for analyzing urban heat islands through multi-source thermal and morphological data. Full article

Background and Objectives: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive form of primary brain tumor, characterised by high recurrence rates and poor patient prognosis. This study aimed to identify gene-expression signatures and molecular networks associated with primary and recurrent GBM to better understand the biological mechanisms underlying tumor progression. Materials and Methods: Gene expression analysis of TCGA data was conducted to identify differentially expressed genes across tumor, recurrent, and normal brain tissues. Analysis of overlapping differentially expressed gene sets revealed both common and specific gene-expression profiles across the groups, highlighting genes potentially involved in GBM recurrence. Gene network and canonical pathway analyses were performed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to identify key pathways and cellular functions altered in GBM. Results: Our data identified distinct molecular signatures in tumor, recurrent, and normal brain samples, highlighting dysregulated genes associated with cellular growth, proliferation, and movement. Transcriptomic stratification revealed progressive tumor- and recurrence-adapted states, with composite Tumor Scores (TS) and Recurrence Scores (RS) classifying samples into four classes: normal-like, proliferative, transitional, and recurrence-adapted tumor states. Conclusions: These findings provide insights into the signaling networks and biological mechanisms underlying GBM recurrence and may guide the identification of potential therapeutic targets to improve the management of this malignancy. Full article

Urbanization in developing countries has intensified ecological degradation and reduced the availability of Urban Green Spaces (UGS), including in Bogor City, Indonesia, where public UGS covers only 4.26%—far below the national minimum requirement of 20%. Agroforestry is increasingly recognized as a viable strategy to enhance the ecological, economic, and social functions of limited urban green areas. This study assesses the sustainability of agroforestry practices in Bogor City’s public UGS using the Multi-Aspect Sustainability Analysis (MSA) method across five aspects: ecological, economic, social, infrastructure–technology, and legal–institutional. This study is grounded in three principal hypotheses: (i) the implementation of agroforestry exerts a positive effect on ecological, social, and infrastructural–technological sustainability; (ii) economic and legal–institutional dimensions constitute the major limiting factors affecting overall sustainability performance; and (iii) strategic improvements targeting key leverage factors can significantly enhance the composite sustainability index. Primary data were collected through field observations, interviews, and surveys, supplemented by secondary policy and spatial data. Results show an overall sustainability score of 51.84%, categorized as “sustainable”. Ecological (66.71%), social (60.71%), and infrastructural–technological (60.50%) aspects were sustainable, while economic (26.14%) and legal–institutional (45.14%) aspects were less sustainable. Key leverage factors influencing sustainability include microclimate regulation, canopy density, biodiversity, tourism management, consumer dependence on agroforestry products, product quality standardization, availability of processing industries, and the presence of management institutions and SOPs. Scenario analysis demonstrates that targeted improvements in these levers can substantially increase sustainability scores, with optimistic scenarios raising the aggregate index to 78.45%. Strengthening economic value chains, regulatory frameworks, management institutions, and data infrastructure is essential to enhance the adaptive capacity and long-term viability of urban agroforestry in Bogor City. Full article

The process of building data analytics systems, including big data systems, is currently being investigated from various perspectives that generally focus on specific aspects, such as data security or privacy, to the detriment of an engineering perspective on systems development. To address this limitation, our proposal focuses on developing analytics systems through a reuse-based approach, including stages ranging from problem definition to results analysis by identifying variations and building reusable, context-based assets. This study presents the reuse process by constructing two case studies that address the water table level prediction problem in two different contexts: the irrigated period and the non-irrigated period in the same study area. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the influence of context on the performance of widely used predictive models for this problem, including long short-term memory (LSTM), artificial neural networks (ANNs), and support vector machines (SVMs), as well as the potential for reusing the developed analytics system. Additionally, we applied the permutation feature importance (PFI) to determine the contribution of individual variables to the prediction. The results confirm that the same problem hypotheses yield different performance in each case in terms of coefficient of determination (R²), root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and mean square error (MSE). They also show that the best-performing predictive models differ for some of the hypotheses (ANN in one case and LSTM in another), supporting the assumption that context can influence model selection and performance. Reusing assets allows for more efficient evaluation of these alternatives during development time, resulting in analytics systems that are more closely aligned with reality, while also offering the advantages of software system composition. Full article

Background/Objectives: Brimonidine tartrate (BRT), a selective α2-adrenergic receptor agonist, is commonly used in the treatment of glaucoma. However, conventional eye drop formulations suffer from poor ocular bioavailability and rapid elimination. This study aimed to develop and evaluate BRT-loaded ethosomes as a nanocarrier-based alternative to enhance intraocular delivery and therapeutic efficacy. Methods: Ethosomes were prepared using the thin-film hydration method and optimized via central composite design. The optimized formulation was subjected to physicochemical characterization, in vitro release testing, and ocular irritation assessment using the Hen egg test—chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) model. Additionally, the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering efficacy of the formulation was evaluated in a rat glaucoma model. Results: The optimized ethosomal formulation exhibited favorable physicochemical properties, including a mean particle size of 122.6 ± 0.7 nm, zeta potential of −1.8 ± 0.9 mV, and encapsulation efficiency of 87.33 ± 0.04%. In vitro release data followed Higuchi kinetics. HET-CAM analysis indicated non-irritancy. In vivo, the ethosomal BRT formulation achieved comparable IOP-lowering effects to the marketed eye drops at one-third of the dose. Conclusions: The developed BRT-loaded ethosomal system demonstrated promising physicochemical stability, sustained release, and therapeutic potential. These findings suggest that ethosomes may offer a safe and effective strategy for enhancing the ocular delivery of BRT in glaucoma therapy. Full article

Soil organic matter (SOM) is a key indicator of arable land quality and the global carbon cycle; accurate regional-scale SOM estimation is vitally significant for sustainable agricultural development and climate change research. This study evaluates a multisource data-fusion approach for improving cropland SOM prediction in Yucheng City, Shandong Province, China. We applied a Local Energy Weighted Discrete Wavelet Transform (LEW-DWT) to fuse multi-temporal Landsat 8 imagery (2014–2023). Quantitative analysis (e.g., Information Entropy and Average Gradient) demonstrated that LEW-DWT effectively preserved high-frequency spatial details and texture features of fragmented croplands better than traditional DWT and simple splicing methods. These were combined with 41 environmental predictors to construct composite Ev–Tn–Mm features (environmental variables, temporal NDVI features, and multi-temporal multispectral information). Random Forest (RF) and Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) models were trained and compared to assess the contribution of the fused data to SOM mapping. Key findings are: (1) Comparative analysis showed that the LEW-DWT fusion strategy achieved the lowest spectral distortion and highest spatial fidelity. Using the fused multitemporal dataset, the CNN attained the highest predictive performance for SOM (R² = 0.49). (2) Using the Ev–Tn–Mm features, the CNN achieved R² = 0.62, outperforming the RF model (R² = 0.53). Despite the limited sample size, the optimized shallow CNN architecture effectively extracted local spatial features while mitigating overfitting. (3) Variable importance analysis based on the RF model reveals that mean soil moisture is the primary single variable influencing the SOM, (relative importance 15.22%), with the NDVI phase among time-series features (1.80%) and the SWIR1 band among fused multispectral bands (1.38%). (4) By category, soil moisture-related variables contributed 45.84% of total importance, followed by climatic factors. The proposed multisource fusion framework offers a practical solution for regional SOM digital monitoring and can support precision agriculture and soil carbon management. Full article

Shiqian Taicha (Camellia sinensis) is a local tea cultivar originating from Shiqian County and Guizhou (China) that is suitable for both green and black tea. The year-on-year manufacturing conditions, which affect chemical quality, were elucidated through the analysis of 78 green tea and 38 black tea commercial batches manufactured in 2021–2023. The batches were manufactured by the same process, but these naturally varied in raw-leaf status and factory parameters. The moisture content, water-soluble extract, free amino acids, tea polyphenols, caffeine, gallic acid, total ash, total catechins and individual catechins were predicted using a calibrated near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy model and membership function evaluation, which integrated multiple indices to produce an overall quality score for each year and tea type. The amino acids of green tea peaked in the year 2022, (with 4.55%) whereas the polyphenols (which refers to carbon-based molecules) was in the year 2021, (with 24.22%), and the total catechins was in the year 2021, (with 16.71%); due to these observations, the ratio of phenol-to-amino was high in the year 2021, with (10.09); while the year 2022 had a lower ratio with (3.41). Although there were fewer differences from region to region with black tea, 2022 was better in terms of moisture control, amino acids retention and composite score with a value of 0.585. The assessment of the membership function indicated that 2022 was the most ideal tea production year for green tea (0.506) as well as black tea (0.477), with 2021 tea (0.486) and 2023 tea (0.488) following next based on type. The data presents quantitatively stable fixation and moisture/fermentation management targets to improve Shiqian Taicha value and consistency. Full article

Background/Objectives: The global prevalence of overweight and obesity among young adults has doubled since 1975, primarily due to unhealthy dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles. Understanding dietary patterns (DPs) in this population is essential for designing effective prevention strategies. This study aimed to characterize the dietary patterns and diet quality of university students and to examine their physical activity and associated health risks. Methods: A convenience sample of 136 participants (77.9% females, 22.1% males) was recruited. Data on clinical history, lifestyle behaviors, and physical activity were collected using a structured questionnaire. Dietary intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire and three 24-h dietary recalls. Intake was analyzed by food groups, total energy, and macronutrient and fiber composition. Principal component analysis was applied to identify DPs. Results: Three major DPs were identified: Ultra-Processed Foods, Variety Foods, and Traditional Mixed Mexican. Overall, participants showed low consumption of fiber, legumes, and nuts, coupled with high intake of animal-based foods. The mean daily energy intake was 2278 kcal for men and 2008 kcal for women. Although participants demonstrated higher adherence to the Traditional Mixed Mexican pattern, a strong tendency toward the Ultra-Processed Foods pattern was observed, which is linked to an increased risk of chronic diseases and poor nutritional outcomes. Conclusions: The findings highlight the urgent need for targeted dietary interventions among university students. Strategies should emphasize increased intake of fiber-rich plant foods, moderation of protein consumption, and reduction in refined carbohydrates and added sugars to promote healthier dietary habits and prevent chronic disease development. Full article

Cardiac arrhythmias are prevalent complications in pregnancy, yet their precise association with acute maternal cardiovascular morbidity and mortality remains unclear due to heterogeneous evidence. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the impact of maternal arrhythmias on acute cardiovascular outcomes. We searched Medline, Scopus, and Cochrane databases for observational studies comparing pregnant women with arrhythmias to those without. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to calculate pooled risk ratios (RR) for maternal mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). Eleven studies comprising 76,028 pregnancies with arrhythmias and over 82 million controls were included. Analysis of data, primarily derived from large administrative cohorts with low absolute event rates, indicated that arrhythmias were significantly associated with increased all-cause maternal mortality (0.78% vs. 0.01%; RR 31.94; adjusted RR 8.91) and a composite of MACE (2.90% vs. 0.03%; RR 6.48). Supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation were associated with an increased likelihood of adverse outcomes. Notably, the relative risk of mortality and heart failure in women with arrhythmias versus controls was significantly higher in the general obstetric population around delivery than in women with known structural heart disease, suggesting a “sentinel event” phenomenon. Thromboembolic events were also 15 times more likely in the arrhythmia group. Cardiac arrhythmias during pregnancy are associated with substantial maternal morbidity and mortality. New-onset arrhythmias may warrant comprehensive cardiac evaluation, as they may unmask underlying pathology and precipitate severe hemodynamic compromise, particularly in women without prior cardiac history. Full article

Background: Sepsis-induced organ dysfunction poses a significant clinical challenge with limited therapeutic options. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) liraglutide in sepsis and its underlying mechanisms, focusing on modulation of the gut microbiota-derived metabolome. Methods: Public transcriptomic data analysis identified overlapping targets between liraglutide and sepsis-related genes. In a murine cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) model, liraglutide treatment was evaluated for its effects on survival, systemic inflammation, and organ injury. The gut microbiota composition and fecal metabolome were assessed via 16S rRNA sequencing and UPLC-MS. We also measured plasma GLP-1 in sepsis patients and examined the microbiota-dependency of liraglutide’s effects using antibiotic-depleted mice and fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) from liraglutide-treated mice. Additionally, citrulline, a key identified metabolite, was functionally validated both in vitro and in a clinical cohort. Results: Liraglutide significantly improved survival, reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, and alleviated lung, liver, and colon damage in septic mice. It partially restored sepsis-induced gut dysbiosis and modulating associated metabolites, including increasing citrulline. The survival benefit of liraglutide was abolished in microbiota-depleted mice, while FMT from liraglutide-treated mice conferred protection against sepsis, confirming the gut microbiota as a critical mediator. Furthermore, citrulline exhibited direct anti-inflammatory properties in cellular assays, and its plasma levels were negatively correlated with sepsis biomarkers (PCT and CRP) in patients. Conclusions: Taken together, our findings indicate that liraglutide mitigates sepsis by modulating the gut microbiota and regulating associated metabolic pathways. Citrulline may represent a potential microbial mediator or exploratory biomarker within this axis, warranting further mechanistic investigation. Full article

The present study evaluates the performance of hotel companies in Romania using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) integrated with a hybrid weighted TOPSIS model (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution). This approach captures both technical efficiency and multidimensional competitiveness. The DEA included an output-oriented Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) model (with four inputs and one output). It was followed by TOPSIS aggregation with hybrid entropy weights to obtain a composite performance index. The research used cross-sectional financial data for 2023, specific to hotels in Romania, and allowed interpretation across five territorial categories based on predominant relief. The results show that the 852 analyzed hotels have a relatively homogeneous structure and moderate variations in performance scores. At the same time, top-performing units are strongly concentrated in economically or touristically dynamic counties. The integrated DEA–TOPSIS results indicate that high-performing hotels tend to cluster spatially, with plain counties hosting the largest number of hotels at the national level and also a substantial share of high-performance hotels relative to major urban centers; thus, their performance structure is not uniform but strongly polarized. In contrast, the other geographical areas show pronounced clustering, with top hotels concentrated around consolidated leisure destinations, such as Brașov, Sibiu, Constanța, and Prahova. Overall, research using the DEA–TOPSIS method highlights significant spatial disparities that influence both managerial decision-making and regional development policies, affecting the long-term sustainable performance and competitiveness of the Romanian hotel sector. Full article

We present a fresh perspective on the mixed halogen-ion effect (MHE) in lead silicate glasses containing a mixture of halogen ions with a correlative study of optical spectroscopy and halogen ion transport. PbO was partially substituted by either PbCl₂ or PbF₂ in the ternary glass system: (65 − x) − x(PbF₂ or PbCl₂)-35SiO₂ (where 0 ≤ x ≤ 20 mol%) and by a mixture of PbF₂ and PbCl₂ in the quaternary glass series: 45PbO − xPbF_{2 −} (20 − x)PbCl₂–35SiO₂ (where 0 ≤ x ≤ 20 mol%). A suite of improved characterization techniques, including 4-probe van der Pauw resistivity measurements, optical absorption spectroscopy, differential thermal analysis, etc., was employed to correlate composition with physical properties. Replacing PbO with small quantities of PbF₂ or PbCl₂ in binary 65PbO-35SiO₂ glass resulted in a dramatic increase in conductivity by 3–4 orders of magnitude, confirming a shift from Pb²⁺-mediated to halide ion-mediated conduction and, within the mixed-halogen series, a profound MHE was observed. Contrary to previously reported data, the activation energy for conduction and the resistivity both exhibited maxima at the mixed halogen-ion ratio, MHR = (F/(F + Cl), of 0.5. The glass transition temperature (T_g) exhibited a non-monotonic trend, peaking at 506 °C for the MHR = 0.5 composition. Optical absorption measurements have revealed that the MHR = 0.5 glass has the broadest absorption edge and also exhibits certain features in the near IR region of the Urbach tail, which are suggestive of maximum electronic disorder. Full article

This study experimentally demonstrates that a bentonite–vermiculite composite (1:2 mass ratio) is the most effective formulation for the treatment of crude oil–contaminated wastewater. The sorbents were characterized using XRD, SEM/EDS, ζ-potential, DLS, and TGA/DSC to evaluate their structural, surface, and adsorption-related properties. Kinetic analysis showed that the adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order (PSO) model (R² = 0.96–0.99), suggesting that surface interactions and intraparticle diffusion within the layered composite governed the overall adsorption rate. Thermodynamic analysis revealed negative Gibbs free energy values (ΔG < 0) and a moderately positive enthalpy change (ΔH ≈ 26 kJ·mol⁻¹), confirming that adsorption is spontaneous and endothermic, with contributions from physical interactions, ion exchange, and hydrophobic effects. After adsorption, the ζ-potential shifted toward less negative values, indicating partial surface charge neutralization by hydrocarbon species. TGA/DSC data further confirmed strong oil retention and preserved structural stability of the sorbents, while the DSC-derived enthalpy increased from 2.0 kJ·g⁻¹ to 141.6 kJ·g⁻¹ after hydrocarbon uptake, indicating pronounced energetic effects associated with sorbate incorporation. Techno-economic evaluation under industrially relevant conditions (Q = 120,000 L·h⁻¹; C₀ = 392 mg·L⁻¹) showed effective oil removal to residual concentrations below regulatory discharge limits at a low treatment cost. Full article

Background/Objectives: Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) is increasingly used for localized prostate cancer (PCa), but evidence supporting its use in high-risk PCa (HRPC) remains limited. Standard management continues to favor conventional or moderately hypofractionated radiotherapy combined with long-course androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). This systematic review aimed to synthesize current data on SBRT biochemical outcomes, toxicity, and technical aspects in localized HRPC. Methods: A systematic PubMed search was conducted on 1 May 2024, following PRISMA 2020 guidelines (PROSPERO ID CRD420251235649). Studies reporting biochemical control (BC) for HRPC treated definitively with SBRT, with or without ADT, were included. Studies not meeting these criteria or including ≤10 HRPC patients were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed through qualitative appraisal of study methodology. Substantial heterogeneity across study design, SBRT schedules, cohort composition, and ADT integration precluded a meta-analysis; data were synthesized descriptively. Results: Thirty studies contributed biochemical control data after prostate SBRT for 1354 patients meeting inclusion criteria. SBRT was delivered using diverse platforms and dose-fractionation schemes, frequently in combination with ADT. Across studies, BC was generally favorable, though follow-up duration varied widely. Toxicity profiles were acceptable, with most reports describing predominantly grade 1–2 events and low rates of severe toxicity. Marked variability was observed in target volume definition, focal-boost strategies, urethra-sparing techniques, and the use of rectal spacers. Conclusions: Although current evidence is heterogeneous and largely derived from non-randomized studies, BC and toxicity outcomes are consistently promising, supporting SBRT as a potentially effective strategy for localized HRPC. Randomized prospective trials are needed to confirm these findings and refine optimal SBRT regimens and the role of ADT. This review received no funding. Full article